Press box door counterbalancing device



June 30, 1931. J. BEHLE ET AL PRESS BOX DOOR COUNTERBALANCING DEVICE Filed Aug. 15. 1 92a gymwntbo Joseph Beh/e Hu 0 L/nnamz,

Patented 30 1931);

' UNITEDTSTTATES A JOSEPH IBEHLE Arm VHUYGOILINNARTZ, orimnnns, TExAs; ASSIGNORS To T ll-IE COMPANY, or DALLAS, TEXAS, I A ooRroRArrIon' orrExAs PRESS BOX noon COUNTERBAILANGING nnvror:

Application fi led Au ust 13,1928, Serial No. 239,315.;

This inventionrelates to new and useful improvements in press box door counterbalancing dev1ces V l I expediting the operation.

One object of the inventi'onfis to provide a coun-terbalancing device which will tend to compensate the load when the door is opened g the labor and,

and closed, thereby reducin Another object of the invention is to provide a counterbalancing device which is comparatively simple in construction and one which is entirely free from connection with A still furtherobject of the invention is to provide a'counterbalancing deviceincludinga coiled tension spring and a strut member exerting its'thrustin the general direction of the longitudinal axis of thespring,

*wardly wherebya direct downward rpull is exerted'.

upon the spring and the strut member is constantly under: tension, the advantage of such a structure being that the door 1n all p0 latter is inclined LsubstantiallyLthe same as sitions is supported bythe counterb'alancing device. e I A construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, to-

Fig. l is a front elevation of a portion of a; press box showinga counterbalancing device constructed in accordance with the invention and applied thereto, and y v a vertical sectional view of the Inth edrawings the numeral 10 designates one of the angle members at the lower end of I a press box 11, which has 'the'us'ual side door? 12at its upper end. The side door is hinged at 13 so as to swing outwardly and downas is indicated in dotted lines in A bracket 14 is suitably fastened on the angle 10 and the inner end of an arm 15. is pivoted in the bracket. A link orstrut 16 has its lower end pivoted to the outer end onthe arm 15. The upper endof the strut ispiv safety and oted inaibracket' to i an angle bali MURRAY, 2 I

18 extending transversely of the door 12,,

22jis inserted inone ofthe apertures 23 of the arm-l5andsecured by a;nut 24= The eye The spring is constantly} under, tension; thus tending to swing c1os'ed'. position, The thrust is somewhat controlled by the location-of the bolti22, as it" obvious that the leverage will. .be" greater when said bolt is located in the aperturex23 furthest from itsinnerpivot'. 1- It"'s apparent that the spring19 vwill exert an-upward pull onthearm 15,1thus contribbolt; is connected by a link 25 with thelower r A 1 ,end of the spring 19. a "6op v the arm 15-.upward1y r andimparting' -.a longitudinal thrust :to-the; "strut 16, whereby the door 12 is held to its ting an 19 rdth'rust to the'strut lGQWhiche the spring 19 and counterbalancing the open- I ingximovement of the. door. This stored j I energyin the spring will aid in lifting-t the load of the door: when the latter is swung upwanlly thus reducing-,jthe manual labor. v When the door is opened the'sp'ring'willresist *its downward. swing thus} vmaking for v door. y V I Theconstant tensionfof the spring and the upwardthrust of the strut 16 tending'tohold preventing a Sudden l ng either I e the door in its closed position makes for safety as it will tend to hold the door closed .in case it becomes unlatched and also willop-' erateto resist a sudden opening of said. door. due to the expansion of the compressed bale." 'It is pointed out that all connectionwith'the hinge shaft or trunnion of the press box door a is eliminated andalsova fixed and positive A connection with the side door ishad, thus obviating-loose parts and complicated at tachments. I v It will be noted in F ig.-2 that thepress platform llis rigidly attachedto the side 11 of the press box and is rotated therewith as is common in this art. The strut 16 extends up through a slot 16 in this platform. By this arrangement the spring or the major portion thereof may be located entirely below the platform which not only gets the spring out of the way, but makes for the safety of the men working on the platform in case the spring should break. It also permits the spring to be located within the angle formed by the strut 16 and the arm 15 thus allowing a shorter spring to be used and requiring less travel of the spring than is required of the strut.

Various changes in the size and shape of the different parts, as well as modifications and alterations, may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

lVhat we claim is:

1. In a eounterbalancing device for a vertically disposed cotton press box door, astrut pivoted at its upper end to the door above its hinge and extending downwardly below the hinge of the door and below the press plat form, an arm pivoted to the lower end of the press box and lying entirely below the press platform and to which the lower end of the strut is pivoted, and a coiled spring lying entirely below the hinge of the door and having its upper end attached to the press box and its lower end attached to the arm and free from connection with the pivotal connection between the strut and the arm.

2. In a counterbalancing device for a vertically disposed cotton press box door, a strut pivoted at its upper end to the door above its hinge and extending downwardly below the hinge of the door and below the press plat form, an arm pivoted to the lower end of the press box and lying entirely below the press platform and to which the lower end of the strut is pivoted, and a coiled spring located entirely below the hinge of the door and lying within the angle formed by the strut and the arm, whereby the extension of the spring is less than the travel of the strut upon fully opening the door. y

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

JOSEPH BEHLE. HUGO LINNARTZ. 

